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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953666">Recovery</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenchurch87/pseuds/Fenchurch87'>Fenchurch87</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tales of Kirkwall (and Beyond) [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Divergence, Canon Divergent Hawke Family, Gen, Injury, Injury Recovery</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:54:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953666</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenchurch87/pseuds/Fenchurch87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ingrid Hawke regains consciousness after the Qunari invasion. Originally written in response to a writing prompt on /r/dragonage.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tales of Kirkwall (and Beyond) [18]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1086066</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Recovery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">Pain. That was all Ingrid knew when she first regained consciousness. She took several deep, centring breaths and focused on the air entering and leaving her lungs, anything to take her mind off the thousand knives stabbing into her belly. <em>The pain is nothing</em>, she recited in her head. <em>I cannot feel it. It will not break me. It will not defeat me.</em></p><p class="western">Strengthened, she moved her hand to her abdomen and assessed the injury. Her whole torso was heavily bandaged, and try as she might, she could find no clue as to what lay beneath the layers of gauze. That was probably for the best. The specifics of her wounds weren't important; what mattered was that someone had treated them. Someone who knew what they were doing, judging by the neatness of the dressing. The next step was to figure out where she was. She could feel something soft underneath her, a sheet perhaps? Or a carpet? Gathering her strength again, she opened her eyes.</p><p class="western"><em>Home</em>, she realised with a flicker of relief. She was home! She could see the window at the far end of the room, and if she turned her head slightly she could just make out the small table by the opposite wall. She was safe, then. That was good. Now she needed to remember how she ended up here.</p><p class="western">She closed her eyes and cast her mind back, but found only fragments. Fighting. Qunari. Some sort of book? And then a stronger memory came to the surface. The Arishok refusing a duel. The red mist descending. Isabela.</p><p class="western"><em>Bela!</em> She tried to sit up but her body protested vehemently. <em>The pain is nothing. I cannot feel it.</em> The mantra was no help now. All she could do was whimper, tears filling her eyes.</p><p class="western">Someone appeared by her side at once, a blurry figure with long red hair. Marian? No, too tall. Erik, then. He caught her in his arms and laid her down gently while she moaned and sobbed in agony. She felt his hands on her bandages and then a cooling sensation as the healing magic took effect. The pain slowly eased, fading away to a sharp but tolerable ache.</p><p class="western"><em>Where is Isabela?</em> she wanted to ask, but her tongue felt leaden and she couldn't form the words. Andraste's tits, she hated this. Stuck in this room, unable to move, unable to talk. Barely able to think through the fog that filled her mind.</p><p class="western">The soft blue light surrounding her brother's fingers vanished as he finished his healing spell. She thought she saw him stagger slightly as he turned away, but surely that was her imagination. He returned a moment later carrying a small cup. He carefully lifted her up again, one hand supporting her head while the other held the cup to her lips. The herbal tang of elfroot and the sweetness of embrium were familiar, but there was something else there too. Something bitter, but not entirely unpleasant.</p><p class="western">Erik guided her back down to the pillow, and she felt her eyes close as soon as she touched it. The fog in her head was growing thicker, so thick that she stopped trying to fight it. Instead, she welcomed it with open arms and found herself falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.</p>
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